The two classmates put on a show last night in No. 2 UCLA’s 102-62 win over UCSB. Leaf finished two assists shy and Ball three assists shy of their first collegiate triple-doubles. To put that in perspective, there are just four triple-doubles in the prestigious history of the UCLA basketball program. Leaf had a career-high 25 points and eight assists to go along with 10 rebounds. Ball had 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
As the point guard, Ball’s impact is more difficult to measure. In fact, the best gauge is probably the win column and UCLA is obviously unscathed in that area. But Leaf’s numbers are impossible to ignore. He is UCLA’s leading scorer at 18.3 points per game and the second-leading rebounder with 9.4 per game. Looking a little deeper, his shooting percentage (68%) is the best on the team leading the nation in shooting percentage. He has the heft to bang in the paint and the skill to score from anywhere, evidenced by shooting 54 percent from 3-point range. Oh yeah, in UCLA’s biggest game of the season, he had 17 and 13 at Kentucky. It’s hard to argue anybody other than Ball is the team’s MVP, but what Leaf is doing thus far is exceptional.
Here are links to last night’s coverage: